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Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Squirrel's Nut Cache - 1/27/2011

The Nut Cache - a collection of recent things I found interesting, or amusing, or nutworthy.

In order to help primary school children understand what it must have been like to live during the London Blitz in World War II, the administrators of a Lancashire school decided to tell the children that World War III had started, set off a siren, hustled them all down into the school's cellar while fireworks were set off to simulate a bombing attack. Yes, the students were scared. Yes, the parents are upset. "The idea of it was to get the children to empathise with what it was like. The big concern we had was that the children wouldn't believe it. Unfortunately we made it too real. After that we spent all the rest of the afternoon explaining to them that it wasn't." Take note; convincing the kids that they're under attack is not the best way to teach history...

You may recall the story from the September 23rd Nut Cache about the young woman who stabbed a man over his insults about her smelly feet? Well, the verdict in that case has been handed down, and I think I like this judge. First, he didn't overlook the fact that sticking a knife into someone is always a serious matter, and gave the young lady in question 15 months in prison. But Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurtz also got a little creative, and assigned, in addition to the jail time, a term paper. Six pages on "how the excessive drinking of alcohol can destroy lives." Let's hope the lesson sinks in.

By now, you may have already heard about the car salesman in Chicago who got fired for wearing a Green Bay Packers tie the day after the Packers beat the Bears in the NFC Championship game. I have some thoughts... It seems the dealership he worked for spent $20,000 per month during the football season advertising with the Chicago Bears. His boss told him 5 times to take of his tie. My Dad always told me that, when you work for somebody and you're on their time, you represent them. And unless it infringes on moral conscience, you do what the boss tells you to. This man wasn't being told to lie, cheat, or steal, he was being told to change his tie. He refused, and he got fired. Move along... there's nothing to see here...

Some criminals do some really dumb things... sometimes they're so dumb that you really don't know what to say. I don't know what to say about this... except that I'm wondering if they'll charge her with vehicular assault, as well? (h.t. Mrs Grasshopper & Blue, who both sent me this story.)

(h.t. Klet)We've all dialed a wrong number from time to time. Perhaps you've even left a voice mail at the wrong number. Well, a deployed British soldier left a marriage proposal for his girlfriend at the wrong number, and he wont be able to call her again for a month. Diane Potts, who's answering machine the message was left on, is now trying to locate "Samantha", the girl for whom the proposal was intended. Now that the story is in the press, I hope Samantha hears about it. Might just be one of the most memorable proposals ever! It's certainly one of the most public.

Let's face it, there are a lot of things out there that can distract us. And sometimes we do things when we should be paying attention to something else (like operating a motor vehicle...) Some people feel that it is there business to protect us from ourselves. Like Brooklyn Sen. Karl Kruger, who is looking to ban things like cell phones and iPods for pedestrians crossing the street. Gee, I wonder if anyone deep in thought ever wandered in front of a chariot in ancient Rome?

There have been a lot of high tech attempts to smuggle drugs. Just last July, Ecuadoran authorities captured a 100-foot submarine that was equipped for drug-smuggling. Now it seems that some smugglers are trying a low-tech way to get those drugs across the border. American customs agents, operating a spy-drone along the border with Mexico, spotted a 10-foot trebuchet, at type of medieval catapult, being set up on the Mexican side. The Americans contacted Mexican police, who seized 45 pounds of marijuana, an SUV, and the catapult, which was mounted on a flatbed trailer. I wonder who thought this was a good scheme?

Sluggy Freelance

WARNING: Sluggy Freelance is a quirky, offbeat, secular comic strip for grown-ups. It is not an "adult" cartoon, but it is PG-13, and not for children. I think it's funny, and that's probably a sign of my own depravity. Yes, the bunny is cute, but he's homicidal, OK?